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Chapter 3: Blade Through Flesh, Pain Through Heart"Earth."
"Earth," Guy said again.
"Earth?"
"Yes, damn it, EARTH!" Guy said.
"Why on earth would you want to go to Earth?" Katze said. "What do you mean?"
"This is a dystopia, Katze!" Guy slammed the door shut and returned to the sofa. "People can't live in a state like this – I – can't. Not after Riki and Iason died."
"Why?" Katze asked, the rudeness gone from his voice.
"I told you people can't live I a state like this, I can't," he looked at his hands. "And if I can't live in a state like this, I'm going to die. And I don't want to die. Not after seeing the way Riki and Iason died. It's this…Utopian society that drove them to die like this," he rolled his eyes heavenwards to stop his eyes from water. He gritted his teeth together. "If there wasn't a damn caste system – "
"Why Earth though?"
"I'm going to bring Jupiter down," Guy said. "I'm going to clean this place out of the caste system, and then I'm getting out of here. To Earth. And I'm offering you a free seat there – if you'll help me."
Katze stared at him and raised an eyebrow. He smiled, "You think you can offer me a seat to Earth. You think you'll have the money. You think I want to go to Earth?"
He sighed. "Katze, I need you help, I'll admit it." He flicked his eyes to the computer Katze had on his desk. "You're the only one with the equipment I can use to hack inside the main computer – Jupiter."
Katze's eyes lit up and he puffed a low stream of smoke into the air. After watching it curl and diffuse, he looked back at Guy. "I nearly came to discovering Tanagura's secret once. You don't need good equipment to hack into a supercomputer like Jupiter. I used a terminal – a terminal that's not even close to today's standards."
"I can't. The amount of energy and electricity would blow the computer up to shards – at least, the computer I have," Guy shook his head. "Look – I'm guaranteeing you that you'll have a seat to go to Earth if you help me succeed this. Why wouldn't you want to go to Earth anyway?"
"Earth?" Katze laughed. "Earth is a tale told to children in their beds. At least – slum mothers to their children. A planet free of a Utopia, a place where a slum bred could rise to the floundering heights in a few years. Green fields – grass," he laughed harder. "Can you imagine that? Fields of grass to look upon, without even an ounce of polished metal?"
Guy narrowed his eyelids. "And if you help me, then we'll get to see that field of grass."
"Get out of here. You've wasted enough of my time," Katze stood up.
Guy's mouth dropped open and the same anger rushed through him again. "Fine," he slammed his hand on the table and stood up to leave.
"Hey…Guy."
"WHAT?"
"No one's using the computer down at my workplace tomorrow at 8:20 PM to midnight. I don't know whether it'll explode if you manage to hack into Jupiter, but it's probably hell a lot better than that hunk of metal and plastic you have in your apartment."
"So, where are we going tonight?" Luke said, absentmindedly scratching his head while wiggling his foot against Guy's coffee table.
"What makes you say that we're going somewhere tonight?" Guy leaned his arms on the worn leather upholster sofa and looked out at the night sky, glittering with lights from the windows. It was raining – again. After the rather tight and tense meeting with Guy, he called whatever was left of Bison together to kill time before he went to Guy's workplace.
"I dunno. We always go somewhere on Wednesdays, don't we?" Luke peered at him underneath his sunglasses. "What's up with you anyway?"
"Nothing," he sighed.
"Is it about Riki?" Sid suddenly asked after a moment of silence. "Whatever happened to him anyway – "
He stood up so fast he knocked the table and disturbed the few empty bottles of stout on the table. "Hey – uh, I just remembered. I managed to grab a couple of good quality bikes and they're down at the garage. Want to see them before I sell them?"
"You bet," Luke jumped up and pushed open the door.
Norris placed a hand on his shoulder. "Guy – you're not yourself. Last week you seem to be nothing but anger, now you're like – like hell."
"Pretty bad, huh?" He shrugged off Norris's hand and hurried down to the dark garage.
"Damn, I can't see a thing – " Luke complained.
Guy slid his hand along the wall, trying to find the light switch when he heard something crash – probably a barrel of motorcycle acid he used to melt broken metal parts together and a yell from Luke.
"GUY! Turn the lights on! There's someone in here!"
"Fuck it!" He kept on running his hands on the wall until he felt the large switch, grabbed it, and flung it on. Twelve large lights exploded in the garage with a sickening metallic sound that sounded like a thousand flies being burnt by a light bulb. The sudden explosion of light blinded him for a moment before his reflexes made him leap over the trail of burning acid and grabbed the wiggling black creature that tried to dive out of the partly open door. It tried to punch his shoulder but he had it in a headlock before it could react.
"Stunt!" He shouted.
"Here!" He heard Sid shout back.
A stunt gun flew through the air and Guy grabbed it, ramming the metal to the protesting body underneath him and pressed down on the button.
The body lay still.
"Is he dead?" Luke asked.
"Shit – Luke, there's not enough voltage in that stunt to even kill a dog," he said, pulling off the black cloth and looking down at the face.
Malachi.
His heart jumped up all the way to his throat.
"I'll deal with this one. You guys stay here," he said, flinging the unconscious body over his shoulder. He felt a soft moan slip from the partly open lips as he hurried up the stairs and into his room. He threw Malachi down on the bed and slammed his door shut.
"Ow…"
"What were you doing in my garage?" He demanded.
Malachi glared at him and removed the thick cloth that covered the rest of his head and let his hair fall around his shoulders. He narrowed his eyes. "Those were my bikes you stole."
"Were they?" Guy crossed his arms. "So where's your band of Yakuza members to steal it back and assassinate me? Look, kid, I paid good money for that bike – maybe not as much as they were worth, but I paid money for them, which means I bought them. They're not yours anymore."
"You stole them!"
"Black market," Guy grinned. "And you better get your ass out of here before I call up Sid, Luke, and Norris and say they can have some fun with you."
"Go on, I dare you," Malachi suddenly stood up and walked up to him, his body clad in black dangerously close to Guy. He wrapped a hand around his neck and Guy felt the small hairs at the back of his neck prickle. "Though I'd rather you fuck me instead of them." He felt the tip of a wet tongue graze against a tendon on his neck.
Guy shoved Malachi back and gritted his teeth. "Keep your hands off of me!"
The look Malachi gave him was hard enough to slice through cold metal. "What is wrong with you?" He shouted.
"I don't want a whore here, you – " he couldn't find words that were bad enough to shout at him. "Just, get out."
Malachi continued to glare at him. "Can you at least drive me to the bar?" He said each word sounding like it was dipped in ice.
"And get myself killed? No. Besides, I only have a motorcycle."
Malachi hissed at him and flung open the only window in his bedroom and without a warning, pushed himself up on the windowsill and dropped to the street, a story high.
Guy squinted at the small piece of paper that Katze handed to him before leaving his apartment the other day, trying to decipher the squiggly black lines that were meant to be a road map. He stuffed the paper into his shirt pocket and swung the motorcycle into a dark alley and jumped off before it came to a full stop.
Following Katze's instructions, he punched in the password when the door asked him too and walked inside a dark hallway. The door slid shut behind him and he blinked rapidly, trying to get used to the dark.
Finally, out of fear of any wandering guards, he removed his shoes and tiptoed on the floor, flinching at every sound he made on the linoleum floor. He ran his hands across the wall until he came to a door and pushed it open.
A hand grabbed his shoulder.
He cried out and whirled around, only to have a big flashlight shone in his eyes.
"Katze?" He asked.
"No, it's Jupiter," he said.
"Will you put that thing down?" Guy threw his hands up to shield his eyes from the light.
"Suit yourself," Katze flicked the light off and pulled down a heavy switch. A soft golden light, strong enough to surround the floor and various objects, but not obvious enough to lure eyes from the outside washed over the lonely hallway. Katze's face suddenly turned soft and his shock of red hair seemed to glow with random strands of whimsically spun gold. Even his eyelashes were illuminated. It gave his emotionless mask an air of melancholy and sadness – even depression.
"Katze…" Guy said softly. "Where are you from?"
"Not your business. Do you want to use the terminal or not?" His sharp voice ripped through violently.
He followed the man into a small room, empty except for a computer on a table, a chair, and a few notebooks. "You're free to access this place now, whenever you wish," Katze said. "But if anyone starts to get suspicious, I'm not going to help you. And whatever happens don't go upstairs."
"What's upstairs?"
"People working you idiot," Katze cocked his head to the side. "If there's something dangerous going on, just leave. Run out the back door."
He shut the door behind him and Guy sighed at the tension that went along with Katze. He flopped down on the chair and flipped the computer on.
Memories came back.
He leaned back on the chair and looked at the ceiling, remembering the first time he met Riki. How long ago was it? Five? Six? Eight? All he could remember was a scrawny boy, thin, cold, and starving, hidden behind a couple of garbage cans behind an old bar. Raped? He wasn't sure, but he remembered bending down and helping the boy up. Said his name was Riki. The boy said he was beat up because he was trying to steal someone's wallet.
And after that it was history.
He didn't know how Riki managed to become Bison's leader even though he was the smallest and somewhat, the most inexperienced in the fields of the black market and stealing. But he was brave; Guy had to give him credit for that. He would drive through crowded buildings with his motorbike, leaping from escalator to escalator, risking his life for the other gang members. That was what made him a leader. His willingness to risk his own life for others.
Riki was always there when he needed him, the same around way when Riki needed him. Maybe it was a bad day and the only thing that kept them from riding their bikes over the cliff was the fact that the other was still alive. He remembered the touches, the caresses, the soft kisses – and the more violent ones. He bit his lip.
He forced himself not to think and started working instead.
He felt something warm next to his cheek.
"Hmmmrghhhhwaaat?" He moaned.
"Thirsty? You've been down here for nearly eight hours straight?"
Guy blinked, his eyes unfocused. He yawned and lifted his head up from the table. "Wha?"
His eyes focused on the steaming mug in front of him and he yawned again. "Whazzat?"
"It's called coffee. Mankind's awakening drug."
He took the hot mug in his hand and drank it, appreciating the warmth that spread down to his cold hands and feet. "Thanks. You done with work already?"
"No…just came down to see how you're doing. How are you doing?" Katze pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and slid it gracefully into his mouth.
"Work or physical wise?"
"Both."
"Tired as hell," he yawned and drank the coffee. "I managed to hack into some old history files about Jupiter – how she was built, the scientists behind it all…."
"How the hell did you manage to get history files? I thought Jupiter had them destroyed," Katze lit his cigarette and sighed as he puffed out the first smoke.
"I have this…thing that's kind of illegal," Guy reached behind the hard drive and pulled out the piece of hardware he owed his life to. It was no bigger than his hand and was the color of soft greenish metal. He flipped it open to a blank screen and a thousand green binary digits crawled across the black screen.
"What's that?" Katze asked.
"It's a portable search engine that can hack by itself into hidden files from anywhere at anytime," Guy said, hitting the activate button. The binary digits disappeared and another set of green letters took place.
NAME PLEASE:
He typed his name into the keyboard.
PASSWORD PLEASE:
He looked up suspiciously at Katze who turned around politely as he typed the password in. "Watch this," he said as he typed.
IASON MINKLOADING INFORMATION. PLEASE WAIT.
Katze's mouth dropped open and his cigarette fell to the floor. "I don't believe it! Birth date? Occupation Status? Known Relationships? Blood Type? Date of DEATH? How much did this thing cost you?"
"Most of everything I had," Guy shrugged and turned it off. "I bought it from a visiting hacker the second time Riki disappeared with Iason. I needed to find him."
"Is that how you tracked him?" Katze raised a smooth red eyebrow. "How does it work?"
"As long as you have some sort of identification on you, and it has a chip on it – " he waved the search engine. "This thing can find it and it will tell me everything."
"Huh," Katze stood up. "I might have to confiscate that back from you. I don't want you messing around with my data."
"Why would I want to mess around with you data?"
"I don't know, but stay away. And go home, get some sleep," Katze smashed his cigarette on the floor with a large boot. "You look like hell."
Guy watched Katze leave and he yawned again, sliding the hardware into his jacket and stretched he reached over to turn off the computer. He walked around the empty office, drinking the rest of his coffee while trying to warm up.
He heard a loud gunshot somewhere above his floor.
He dropped the mug and pulled his own electric stunt gun from his jeans and broke into a dead run for the stairs that led to Katze's workplace. Panting, he dropped to one knee with his arms in fighting trance as he listened behind the shut door.
"Damn it put the gun down!" He heard a loud grunt and a yelp of pain.
"Katze…Katze…" he heard a deep man's voice penetrate through the door. "I think you're going a bit too far in this "market" business of yours."
He heard another muffled yelp of pain and Katze's rasping voice. "I don't know what you're TALKING ABOUT?"
Another yelp of pain. "Katze, I thought we agreed to selling those imported pets at no more than 10% than what you bought from me," the man's voice said. "But from what I heard, you're selling them with 90%…maybe even a 100% interest!"
"What agreement?" Katze's voice sounded thick, like he was speaking through liquid. He coughed violently. "Jealous that I'm making more money than you are?"
"Why don't you just tell me who these people are that you're selling to?"
"To hell I'll tell you that!! They're my customers, not yours!"
"Kill him," the man said. "We'll leave him for his employees to find him."
"No!"
Guy slammed his foot against the doorknob, breaking the lock with one swift kick. He burst through the damaged door and swung in front of guy who was on the floor, and clutching his stomach. A trail of blood and saliva fell from his lips as he coughed.
He pressed down on the trigger.
The two men in his sight fell down as the electricity shot towards them. He had another man before he could run out the door, and a fourth one that lay crumpled on the floor. The fifth one, screaming madly, made a run towards the window but Guy caught him in mid jump.
"Come on!" He grabbed Katze's arm.
"You idiot!" Katze yelled. "I told you to stay down there!"
"And let you die??" He shouted back.
"Wait!" Katze pushed him away and warbled to a big safe behind his desk. Shaking, he pressed numerous digits into the lock and it swung open.
"Give me the briefcase over there," Katze said.
Guy handed it to him and the other man started shoveling whatever was inside the safe deep into the shiny black case. After a minute or two, he shut the safe and heaved the bag into Guy's hands.
"Come on…we have to…now…."
Balancing Katze with one hand, the briefcase and his things in the other, he trotted down the stairs and head straight for the garage. Panting, Katze shoved a set of keys into his hands and he opened the back door of the car, shoving Katze and his briefcase inside before leaping into the driver's seat. He stuck the key in the ignition and the car shot forward. He wheeled it around and sped down the street.
"Let me off…somewhere," Katze groaned. "Let me off at the street."
"What are you talking about?" Guy said as he spun away from a car. "Katze – " he turned around. Blood poured down underneath Katze's fingers as he clutched at his stomach. It ran down the white leather upholster and pooled down at the carpeted floor.
"Katze, you've been shot!"
"Let me go here…they'll follow the car…they'll kill both of us," he pleaded, pain making his violet eyes murky, "Guy…please."
"Fuck it – I'm not letting you out," Guy took one hand off the wheel to take off his jacket and handed to Katze. "Put pressure on the wound."
"I'm not stupid," Katze wheezed. "Where are you taking me?"
"The hospital!"
"NO!" Katze sat up and coughed. "They'll track me down – they'll kill both of us!"
"Fine then, we go to my apartment," he said.
"And then what? I'll bleed to death."
"No you won't," he took a sharp turn. "I know more about medicine than you'd ever know about the black market. My dad used to be the official slum doctor and he passed his skills to me. I'm not as good as the MDs in the hospital, but I can stitch up a wound when I can."
"Oh yeah? No wonder Riki didn't die on the spot when you had him castrated."
He winced. "Shut the hell up."
"Where are you going to get your equipment? Anesthetic? Needles?"
"I know a shop that sells just about everything. If you lend me the money, I can get what I need."
"Suitcase," Katze grunted.
He took a handful of small plastic bills and stuffed them inside the pocket of his jeans. Without thinking, he reached back and squeezed Katze's tense shoulder.
"Come on."
Katze winced as Guy helped him up the stairs. He kept on looking behind his shoulder, half expecting a bullet to come tearing through the air and hit him on the head. Finally, he pulled out his keys and inserted it inside the lock. After he let the magnets work for a few seconds, he quickly pushed Katze inside.
"Not here," he said. "I can't operate you on the floor here. You want my friends to wonder what's up with the bloodstains?"
He half-dragged Katze to the bathroom and he laid the other man down on the tiles.
Katze winced. "You could be a bit more gentle."
"If that hurt you, then the next part will be worst, pal," he took out the newly bought surgical kit. "You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"
"Just do what you need to do."
He nodded and pulled out the large scissors he managed to swipe off his table before he went inside the bathroom. He took it in his hands and slid it at the base of the gray sweatshirt.
Katze gave off a moan.
"I'm not cutting you up – yet," Guy shook his head. "Chill. I'll give you medicine for that part."
He slid the sharp blades over the soft materiel of the shirt and moved it up until it was severed in two places, exposing the creamy white flesh underneath with the streaks of red blood over the tone abdominal muscles. He pulled it back, his hands shaking slightly.
"You know…you have a body a sculptor would dream to sculpt."
"Shut up. And I don't want you shaking and holding any sharp blades around me."
"Take this," he tipped four blue pills into Katze's mouth before he could say anything more. "Tell me when your fingers start feeling numb."
He left Katze and walked into his bedroom, and tucked a pillow and a thick blanket under his arm. He rushed to the kitchen and brought out a large bottle of stout and remembered right on time that the pills didn't react well with alcohol. He shrugged and pulled out a bottle of milk and water instead.
"Here," he tucked the pillow underneath Katze's head. "How numb are you?"
"Is that a pillow or a rock underneath my head?"
"Numb enough," he laughed. He pulled out the blade and poised it above Katze's stomach. A sickly moan escaped his lips and he started panting.
"You're not going to feel any pain," he assured.
"Whatever. Just get it done with," Katze squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head to the side.
Three hours later, tired, but clean from the shower after cleaning off Katze's blood on the tiles, he trudged to the living room and fell on the couch. He let sleep take over his eyes the moment he landed on the soft pillows.
He woke up and dragged himself to the bedroom where Katze was sleeping. He pulled the sheets up and sighed. No, the man was not hemorrhaging, fortunately. He quietly shut the door and head to the refrigerator.
"Yo, Guy!"
He nearly dropped the bottle of stout as Luke, Norris, and Sid trudged into the kitchen. He gave them a glare that silenced them.
"What's wrong? You okay?" Luke asked, pushing pass him and reaching inside the fridge for his own bottle.
"What…are…you…doing…here…" he fought to control his temper.
"Hanging out, like we always do."
"You…could…have…given…me…a…call," Guy squeezed the bottle and finally found the reason why they made it out of rubber.
"Since when do we call you? Your home is my home, man," Luke walked through the door and sat on the couch, emitting a loud squeak.
"What do you want?" Guy walked out to the living room and sat down on the windowsill, crossing one leg over the other.
"Some local gangs are holding a bike chase tonight and there's a really big reward. Entering as teams – no less than five to a team."
"Five? Where are we going to get the fifth rider?"
"I'm asking around. There's some amateurs that would gladly ride for us," Norris sat down on the sofa and leaned against Luke's legs.
"Amateur! Those courses are a killer! Last time we went on it…" He stopped.
Last time he went on a street course on his bike…five of them – him, Sid, Luke, Norris, and Riki. The Bison. They wiped every team off the face of the street. They slammed every course. And they always manage to escape the police, unlike some unlucky teams. He frowned and sat down on the sofa, cradling his head in his hands.
"No," he said. "I don't trust some amateur riding with us. We could get him killed, or he could get us killed. We can't do it without Riki."
His friends sobered. "Damn…" Sid sighed. "And we're running low on money."
"I'll go."
Guy jumped and saw Katze leaning against the doorframe of the living room, clutching his side. His face was pale, but he looked better. Guy raised an eyebrow as he saw that the jeans and the black shirt were his.
Luke whistled. "Daaaamn," he said under his breath so only the people surrounding him on the couch could hear. "Where'd you pick him up, Guy?"
Guy glared at Katze. "I think the rest of you better go home. Right now. I'll give you a call later."
Taking the hint that they were suppose to leave or get run over naked by a car, the rest of his team trudged out of his apartment and shut the door behind them. Katze chose that moment collapse on the ground.
"Katze!" Guy caught his arm before the rest of his body could absorb the impact.
"It's from the drug. I don't feel any pain," he leaned on Guy as he maneuvered him to the couch. "What did you give me?"
"Well, it kept from waking up for a few hours. The immune system needs sleep," he looked at his watch. "Better get going now."
"Go where?"
"Get my stuff I left at your place."
"Are you crazy?!" Katze nearly jumped up. "That place's probably swarming with – "
"Shut up. I have my ways."
"Your ways! I – "
Guy whirled around and stuck the syringe as far as he dared into Katze's arm. His eyes opened wide in surprise as the drug streamed through his blood. His eyelids drooped and Guy let him fall onto the couch.
"Sorry. Sleep'll do you good anyway."
He swung his bike keys in his hand and stepped out.